By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
One Birmingham community initiative is reclaiming land, growing food, and building a thriving future for residents.
Fountain Heights Farms Cooperative, a project that aims to provide affordable fresh food to its neighborhood, on Wednesday morning hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for Heart of the Farm, a new food hub that will provide access to fresh food, commercial kitchen space, and education opportunities.
Co-Founders Dominique Villanueva and Chris Gooden said the idea for the garden began as a way to cut grocery costs and it grew from there — literally.
“I was a teacher at the time, my husband was a landscaper and we wanted to make sure that we had enough money to purchase our first home together and do it in a way that we wouldn’t go into a huge amount of debt and that was by cutting our food budget by growing our own food,” said Villanueva, adding “It was just a need to eat and a need to save money.”
As neighbors stopped by, curiosity grew as well as a need for locally grown food. Villanueva said they saw a bigger purpose which became plans for The Heart of the Farm in the Fountain Heights which will include a:
- community kitchen for local food entrepreneurs
- neighborhood market with fresh, affordable produce
- shared space for small businesses to grow
- neighborhood market, the first in almost 70 years.
The cooperative keeps food on the table for families in need by using vacant land as farm plots — there are currently 11, but by 2030, their goal is to have 119.
It’s more than a space for food access, Villanueva said. “It’s really the beginning of a redevelopment and revitalization that is based in urban agriculture and led by community.”
The Heart of the Farm grocery store is expected to launch this year and serve more than 3,000 neighbors. The space will include areas for local farmers and food producers to store, prepare and sell their goods.
Villanueva and her family have been a part of the Fountain Heights neighborhood since 2017. “I moved to Alabama from Mississippi in 2012,” she said. “I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, so it’s a very different climate. I grew up on a farm and swore that I would never be a farmer, and now here I am being a farmer.
“Growing in Alabama is very different than in the Northwest. A lot more sun. A lot more heat. So it was a learning experience. “
For more visit Fountain Heights Farms
